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The 1st Air Force was redesignated as such in early 1941. It was constitued as the Northeast Air District on October 19, 1940 which was activated on December 18, 1940.
The 1st Air Force trained new groups and, replacements for combat units; it also provided air defense for the Eastern U.S. until 1943.
1st Army Air Forces Patch
Constituted as Northeast Air District on 19 Oct 1940. Activated on 18 Dec 1940. Redesignated First AF early in 1941. Trained new organizations and, later, replacements for combat units. Also provided air defense for the eastern US until 1943. Assigned to Air Defense Command in Mar 1946 and to Continental Air Command in Dec 1948, being concerned primarily with air defense until 1949 and with reserve and national guard activities thereafter.
Commands. I Bomber (later assigned to Second AF and redesignated XX Bomber Command): 1941-1942. I Bomber (Antisubmarine Command prior to assignment to First AF): 1943-1946. I Fighter: 1941-1946. I Ground Air Support: 1941-1942.
Stations. Mitchel Field, NY, 18 Dec 1940; Ft Slocom, NY, 3 Jun 1946; Mitchel AFB, NY, 17 Oct 1949-.
Commanders. Maj Gen James E Chaney, 18 Dec 1940; Maj Gen Herbert A Dargue, 24 Jun 1941; Brig Gen Arnold N Krogstad, 10 Dec 1941; Maj Gen Follett Bradley, 5 Mar 1942; Maj Gen James E Chaney, 23 Jul 1942; Maj Gen Ralph Royce, 18 Apr 1943; Maj Gen Frank O'D Hunter, 17 Sep 1943; Maj Gen Robert W Douglass Jr, 20 OCt 1945; Maj Gen Robert M Webster, 16 Jul 1947; Maj Gen Glenn O Barcus, 1 Sep 1949; Maj Gen Willis H Hale, 17 Jul 1950; Maj Gen James P Hodges, 27 Feb 1951; Col Joseph A Bulger, 1 Sep 1951; Maj Gen Howard M Turner, 9 Aug 1952; Maj Gen Roger J Browne, May 1954-.
Campaigns. American Theater.
Decorations. None.
Insigne. A white star charged with a red disc in the center and with golden orange stylized wings below the Arabic number "I" in white, all on a blue disc. (Approved 18 Jan 1944.)
Data from Air Force Combat Units of World War II By Maurer, Maurer, Published 1986
Q1: When was the First Air Force established?
A1: The First Air Force was constituted as the Northeast Air District on October 19, 1940, activated December 18, 1940, and redesignated First Air Force in early 1941.
Q2: What was the First Air Force's primary mission?
A2: First Air Force trained new combat groups and replacement crews for units deploying overseas, while also providing air defense for the Eastern United States until 1943.
Q3: Where was First Air Force headquartered?
A3: First Air Force was headquartered at Mitchel Field, New York, from its activation in December 1940.
Q4: Who commanded the First Air Force during WWII?
A4: Commanders included Major General James E. Chaney, Major General Herbert A. Dargue, Major General Follett Bradley, Major General Ralph Royce, and Major General Frank O'D. Hunter, among others across the war years.
Q5: What subordinate commands were part of First Air Force?
A5: First Air Force oversaw I Bomber Command, I Fighter Command, and I Ground Air Support Command, along with antisubmarine wings and training groups including the 13th Bombardment Group and 83rd Fighter Group.
First Air Force traces its origins to October 19, 1940, when it was constituted as the Northeast Air District, part of the prewar Army Air Corps' effort to organize territorial air defense districts across the continental United States as Europe descended further into war. Activated on December 18, 1940, at Mitchel Field, New York, the organization was redesignated First Air Force in early 1941 as the Army Air Forces adopted the numbered-air-force naming convention that would define its command structure for the rest of the war.
Unlike the numbered air forces that fought overseas in the Pacific, Mediterranean, and European theaters, First Air Force's wartime mission was fundamentally domestic: training newly formed combat groups and, as the war progressed, training the steady stream of individual replacement aircrew needed to sustain units already committed to combat overseas. This training mission made First Air Force one of the least glamorous but most essential organizations in the entire Army Air Forces structure; every bomber crew, fighter pilot, and ground crewman rotating into a combat theater to replace casualties or complete a unit's authorized strength depended on the training pipeline First Air Force and its sister training commands maintained throughout the war.
First Air Force's second major mission, air defense of the Eastern United States, carried genuine wartime urgency in the war's early years, when German U-boat activity along the Atlantic coast and lingering uncertainty about the full extent of Axis capability made East Coast air defense a real, if ultimately untested, operational concern. This mission was reflected in the command's subordinate structure, which at various points included I Fighter Command (responsible for pursuit and interceptor defense), I Bomber Command (which itself later evolved partial responsibility for antisubmarine patrol before that mission was reassigned to the dedicated AAF Antisubmarine Command), and I Ground Air Support Command. By 1943, as the direct threat to the American mainland receded and the training mission grew to dominate First Air Force's activity, the command's air defense responsibilities were correspondingly reduced.
A succession of general officers commanded First Air Force across the war years, including Major General James E. Chaney (who commanded twice, at the war's outset and again in 1942), Major General Herbert A. Dargue, Major General Follett Bradley, Major General Ralph Royce, and Major General Frank O'D. Hunter, whose tenure beginning September 1943 carried the command through the remainder of the war. Throughout these leadership transitions, First Air Force's fundamental mission of feeding trained aircrew and combat-ready units into the global war effort remained constant, a steady, largely unheralded contribution that made possible the sustained combat operations of every overseas numbered air force depending on its training pipeline.
a. Status, readiness, and supply of US armed forces
First Air Force's dual mission, training and domestic air defense, reflects the practical reality that a rapidly expanding wartime air force needed a dedicated organization simply to generate and sustain the trained manpower every combat theater required. Its training pipeline directly determined the readiness of every other numbered air force fighting overseas; a shortage or delay in replacement crew training at First Air Force's schools and units translated directly into reduced combat capacity thousands of miles away. The command's early-war air defense responsibility, meanwhile, illustrates genuine, if ultimately unrealized, home-front readiness concerns in 1941-42, when the full extent of the Axis threat to American shores remained uncertain and prudent defensive preparation was considered a serious priority.
b. Development of fighting men and command structures
As a training command, First Air Force's contribution to "fighting men" development was direct and foundational rather than combat-tested: it was where newly commissioned pilots, navigators, bombardiers, and gunners completed advanced and replacement training before joining operational units, and where entire new combat groups formed, trained together, and prepared for overseas deployment as cohesive units. The command's subordinate structure, evolving from I Bomber, I Fighter, and I Ground Air Support Commands in the war's early years toward a more training-focused organization by 1943, reflects the broader AAF pattern of continuously reshaping command structures to match the war's actual, evolving personnel and operational needs rather than adhering rigidly to prewar organizational assumptions.
c. Prominent personnel and their role with the organization
Among First Air Force's several wartime commanders, Major General Frank O'D. Hunter's tenure beginning September 1943 is particularly notable; Hunter had previously commanded VIII Fighter Command in England during the formative period of Eighth Air Force's fighter escort operations, bringing genuine combat theater experience directly into First Air Force's stateside training mission, a valuable infusion of practical, hard-won operational knowledge into the pipeline producing the next generation of combat aircrew. Major General James E. Chaney's two separate tenures commanding the organization, bookending the war's early mobilization period, reflect the kind of experienced, trusted leadership the Army Air Forces relied on to manage the critical, if often overlooked, task of transforming raw recruits and new aircraft into combat-ready units and crews throughout the war.
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